MGM's slogan was "More stars than there are in heaven." Columbia's might have been "More crap than there is in a chicken coop". Columbia produced some fine films, but its percentage of gobblers is notably higher than that of 20th, MGM, Paramount, Warner, etc. This is one of the turkeys.
The story is the usual Arabian nights hokum. The dialog (some of which sounds as if it was lifted from Westerns) is written so as not to confuse a five-year-old, leading to terminal boredom for adults. The film is so uninvolving that the composer fills virtually every second with music, to make the viewer think something of interest is happening. The fight scenes, in particular, are notable non-events. (They look as if the actors choreographed them on the fly.)
The acting is strictly amateur, with only Raymond Burr working up enough energy to sound convincing -- and that only occasionally. John Agar's performance is among his worst -- perhaps //the// worst. One gets an inkling of why his marriage to The Queen of Cute ended.
The sets and costumes are lavishly cheap, and the color is the weirdly hued Super Cinecolor, a couple of notches inferior to the more-expensive Technicolor. The only things that show any taste or talent are several beautiful glass paintings.
This is the sort of film that ought to have been skewered on MST3K, but wasn't. A shame, really.
The story is the usual Arabian nights hokum. The dialog (some of which sounds as if it was lifted from Westerns) is written so as not to confuse a five-year-old, leading to terminal boredom for adults. The film is so uninvolving that the composer fills virtually every second with music, to make the viewer think something of interest is happening. The fight scenes, in particular, are notable non-events. (They look as if the actors choreographed them on the fly.)
The acting is strictly amateur, with only Raymond Burr working up enough energy to sound convincing -- and that only occasionally. John Agar's performance is among his worst -- perhaps //the// worst. One gets an inkling of why his marriage to The Queen of Cute ended.
The sets and costumes are lavishly cheap, and the color is the weirdly hued Super Cinecolor, a couple of notches inferior to the more-expensive Technicolor. The only things that show any taste or talent are several beautiful glass paintings.
This is the sort of film that ought to have been skewered on MST3K, but wasn't. A shame, really.
